Our Opinion: Blagojevich must resign now

If five-plus years of utterly inept governance have not made it obvious enough, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s criminal complaint Tuesday did: It is time for Rod Blagojevich to step down as governor of Illinois.

The State Journal-Register

Writer

Posted Dec. 10, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 10, 2008 at 9:06 AM

Posted Dec. 10, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 10, 2008 at 9:06 AM

If five-plus years of utterly inept governance have not made it obvious enough, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s criminal complaint Tuesday did: It is time for Rod Blagojevich to step down as governor of Illinois.

Short of that, the Illinois General Assembly must convene immediately to remove Blagojevich from office by impeachment. We emphasize “immediately.”

There is simply too much at stake here for any other resolution.

Fitzgerald’s affidavit is an astounding tale of brazen corruption that, frankly, we are still trying to absorb. And after nearly five years of rumors of federal investigations of the Blagojevich administration, we’ve developed a pretty high tolerance for Blagojevich-related corruption tales.

Blagojevich’s removal - either by voluntary resignation or an impeachment and removal by the Illinois Legislature - is not a matter this state can afford to approach leisurely. Right now, the state’s finances are in full-blown meltdown. The state is $4 billion behind in paying its bills. The General Assembly has been moribund for much of Blagojevich’s tenure, never more so than this year, because of the governor’s irresponsible style of “governance.” Blagojevich’s legacy already can be summed up in the word “distracted,” and Tuesday’s mind-numbing menu of federal allegations will make that worse.

As the U.S. Senate prepares to address the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, Illinois will be one voice short until a replacement for President-elect Barack Obama is selected. Rod Blagojevich must not make that choice. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago gave us 76 pages of reasons why on Tuesday.

Fitzgerald’s allegations - based on wiretaps of Blagojevich’s home phone and bugs planted in his campaign headquarters - are absolutely staggering.

In much the same way Nixon fixated on his perceived enemies, so does Blagojevich obsess over the editorial board of The Chicago Tribune, which had been sharply critical of Blagojevich in its editorials. In a Nov. 4 conversation with Chief of Staff John Harris - who was arrested and charged with Blagojevich - Blagojevich explains the terms by which the Tribune’s corporate parent can get state help in a sale of Wrigley Field. The Tribune needed to fire certain members of its editorial board if Tribune Co. (the corporation that owns the newspaper) expected help from the administration.

“(O)ur recommendation is fire all those (expletive) people, get ‘em the (expletive) out of there and get us some editorial support,” Blagojevich says in the complaint.

But the machinations against the Tribune editorial board are tiddlywinks compared to Blagojevich’s alleged plans for filling Obama’s U.S. Senate vacancy.

In the government recordings, Blagojevich’s mind wanders wildly from schemes to (1) use the appointment as leverage to get himself appointed to President-Elect Obama’s cabinet; (2) use the appointment as leverage to make himself head of a nonprofit agency and secure lucrative corporate board appointments for his wife, Patti; (3) appoint himself to the Senate because he’d have better access to legal resources as a U.S. Senator than he would as governor if he were indicted.

Page 2 of 2 - To Blagojevich, the Senate appointment was the key to life after governorship.

“I’ve got this thing and it’s (expletive) golden, and … I’m just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing. I’m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can parachute me there,” Blagojevich says on the government recordings.

This portion of Fitzgerald’s complaint outlines not just corruption, but something bordering on lunacy.

To the extent that anything could be reassuring as Tuesday’s tsunami of criminal allegations crashed over Illinois, it was a relief to hear that Illinois Senate President Emil Jones was laying groundwork for a special election to elect Obama’s U.S. Senate successor. Of course, our relief is tempered mightily by the fact that Jones has been Blagojevich’s biggest enabler throughout his governorship. Without Jones’ help in blocking undesirable legislation (like a bill that would have let Illinois voters recall public officials from office) Blagojevich’s power would have been severely limited.

As a matter of procedure, we note here that Governor Blagojevich is assumed innocent until proven guilty.

We believe Blagojevich should pursue his presumed innocence as a private citizen, not as sitting governor of Illinois.